March Retreat for Creation

March 2022

The month of March is filled with a riot of color and activity. It’s a fresh, youthful, quick-flowing month - the start of something new. In March I do the work; I tend and nurture my family, my garden, and my projects. March is a month for being a physical creature; for feeling all sensations, and being really present in my body - playful and young-in-spirit.

In the winter I dreamed dreams and made plans, but as spring approaches, it's time to get into action. Today I have a wide-open day to fill with the work of creating my vision here on the earth.

Agenda:

1. Retreat day plan

2. Read "The Creativity Book"

3. Analyze my New Project

4. Plant greens

1. Retreat Day plan:

Tomorrow is the new moon, a time of high energy and clear thinking. Historically, the new moon is when women took time to be alone; it's a time to retreat, set intentions, and initiate something new. Today I have the time to retreat, do less talking, less business, and more personal thought and action.
Here's my plan for today -

• Start with reading from The Creativity Book, by Eric Maisel.
• Make a project plan for my New Project.
• Plant greens
• Finish sewing a blanket!

2. Read "The Creativity Book":

A few years ago I started but didn't finish this book by Eric Maisel (one of my favorite writers). The subtitle is "A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance." Who doesn't want that?

I'm on Week 11: Analyze. He is talking about one of his favorite subjects, choosing what to work on, and how careful thinking can awaken real excitement.

As an artist, I must choose to work and also choose what to work on. I can choose an idea before I work or while I work - either way is OK but the act of choosing is central to the process. I can’t spend all my time waiting to find my way; I need to dive in to life! 

3. Analyze my New Project:

This comes at a perfect time, since I'm starting a new project, and it needs some analysis. Here are the steps I will use:

1. Visualization: Close my eyes and see a gallery filled with my next creations. The sun streams in the windows of the gallery. I can’t see them clearly, but I know that I created these works, and I am satisfied. Walk to the center of the room and look around- let the works come in and out of focus. Concentrate on the feeling in the gallery- the colors, the size of the works. Notice the unifying idea, the theme around which my next series is based. 
2. Project Book: Describe my project - What is its name? What are the parameters? What are the big questions it answers? What about it brings me joy, peace, and excitement? Listings I need to understand  better, and list possible resources.
3. Gestalt Test: Spend today holding my idea in the complexity of the universe. This is something an artist can do - simply open my mind's eye wide to take in everything all at once - my childhood, adulthood, and old age; all mystery and light; my neighborhood and the whole world, the lightning and the mountain; every painting style, and every painting idea, my idea and all ideas. Is my idea true and worthy in the gestalt? Is it deep and wide? Does it contain the moral and the natural, and past, present and future?

4. Plant greens:

I'm going to start some buttercrunch lettuce indoors, and also, since I got my spinach bed prepared this week while it was dry, I can go out in the rain and plant some spinach seeds. 

Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) is in the Amaranthaceae family, related to the beet and Swiss chard. This plant is thought to have originated from central and southwest Asia and first cultivated over 2,000 years ago in Persia (Iran). 

Spinach is a cool weather annual, grown as both a spring and an autumn crop. When planting, temperatures should be above 50°F, but below 60°F for optimal production; usually about 4 weeks prior to the last frost of the spring and 6 weeks before the first frost of autumn. Spinach prefers well-drained, nitrogen rich soil to encourage the growth of tender leaves. Seeds can be sown directly into the soil, about 1-inch apart in an area of full sun (although spinach is tolerant of partial shade) and thinned later to 3-inches apart. Water frequently as growth begins and then on a regular basis as the plants develop. Beans and peas are terrific companion plants for spinach. Not only do legumes affix nitrogen into the soil, but these taller companions help shade the spinach and keep it from bolting. Other spinach companion crops include cabbage, cauliflower, chard, onion, and strawberries.